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What every cyclist needs

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18 May 2019, 02:58 PM
wtg
What every cyclist needs
A pool noodle.

quote:
It’s late March and my friend Erik and I are on the first leg of our 2,000-mile bicycle trip from Los Angeles to Denver. After sweating my way up a hill in Southern California, I bask in a glorious downhill. To protect myself from stumbling off the edge and make myself more visible to cars, I do what I normally do on long, steep downhills: take up the full lane. Through my eyeglass-mounted mirror, I watch cars inevitably pile up behind me. When the terrain flattens out and I move back to the shoulder, a stream of cars pass me.

A woman in one of the passing cars rolls down the window, and instead of the typical words of encouragement, her shriek nearly scares me off my bike as she yells at the top of her lungs, “SELFISH BITCH!”

The hard truth is that bicycles are still largely seen as a nuisance on the road. We’re on the margins—literally. Cyclists are reminded of this every time we get skimmed by a car. According to the World Health Organization, over half of international traffic deaths involve vulnerable road users such as cyclists. And because Americans are among the least avid cyclists in the world, they’re among the most likely to get killed by a car.

But I’ve discovered a life-saving device that allows cyclists to protect themselves and take back the road: the pool noodle.

Find one for about $2 anywhere: dollar stores, shopping malls, even the supermarket. Choose from the array of fun colors and use a bungee cord to strap this light, flexible toy to your bike rack so that it sticks out to the left side (or the right side, if you’re in a country where cars drive on the left). Start pedaling and watch as car after car moves over to the other lane.



https://qz.com/1620913/the-bes...source=pocket-newtab


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When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden - Minnie Aumônier

18 May 2019, 03:55 PM
Doug
I can’t help but think this is just going to piss off some drivers even more and cause them to buzz even closer by me.

One of the things I like about my current location is the ubiquity of bike lanes. I understand it’s still dangerous, but at least the rules are clearly laid out in the street markings about who has the right of way.
18 May 2019, 04:28 PM
ShiroKuro
That’s quite clever. And like far too many things in life, wouldn’t be necessary if people weren’t jerks. Jerkishness is never good, but jerks driving like *ssholes are the worst.


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19 May 2019, 03:04 PM
jon-nyc
Clever idea but can we just call bullsh1t on this sentence?

“According to the World Health Organization, over half of international traffic deaths involve vulnerable road users such as cyclists”

The report says ‘pedestrians, motorcyclists, and cyclists’.


She might as well have said “100% of traffic deaths involve human beings such as cyclists”. It’s a form of statistical appropriation.


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19 May 2019, 09:00 PM
Daniel
Agreed. All this victimization rhetoric from someone able to ride a bike from Los Angeles to Denver. I'm not having it.
20 May 2019, 01:21 AM
RealPlayer
Not sure I agree with the noodle idea.

Wisdom from an old cycling book: "Of course drivers don't like you. They don't even like each other." Yes


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“It's hard to win an argument with a smart person. It's damn near impossible to win an argument with a stupid person." -- Bill Murray

20 May 2019, 03:40 AM
Cindysphinx
Why does the cyclist need the whole lane on a long downhill? Why not move over and slow down enough to let the cars pass?

I notice that the author doesn’t mention the speed limit or how many lanes there are.

I don’t agree that cyclist can’t be the selfish pigs on the road. Slower vehicles, be they tractors, motor homes, big rigs, or cyclists, need to be thoughtful.